what do you speak

WED FEB 21st

This might be another one of those "the cat crossed the street moments" but i'd like to share it. Last night I met with two Jordanians for a Language exchange session, where you exchange an hour of Arabic for an hour of English helping the other improve their language skills. Originally i was just to meet a Jordanian fellow of 28 named Muhamad, who picked me up and we went to a mall to sit at a cafe. Later his girlfriend came over, who i felt was a large confidant for him, forcing him to really focus on his spoken English. Muhammad's English is not that good, but he is in need of it. He's trying to get a job in Kuwait where he needs to be able to speak English fluently. As is turns out, he was supposed to be interviewed yesterday over the phone to make sure that he was conversational in English, and to also ask him technical terms about the type of work he does "technical engineering" of some sort. He explained to me that he had just heard about this interview the day before, and became very scared at the idea... and then literally half hour he had found out about it, i had called him to see if he was interested in language exchange (his enthusiasm over the phone had been made clear to me before, but now i understood the reason). He said he saw me as good luck for him.
But why is this job so important for him? His girlfriend is 22 and she explained to me the situation when Muhamad went to pray Mughreb. Yasmine (her name) is also an engineer, but a agricultural one. She graduated last year and is already working for a major company, but regardless of what sounded like a great job when she described it, she told me that she only makes 200 JD a month ($300 in america), and that that was the same amount that Muhamad has been able to find in Amman. So now they're looking to work in Kuwait where they can make more money, because there are no opportunities in Amman. It struck me at this point how important for Muhamad learning this language must be. Here i am, spending however many thousands of dollars to fly across an ocean and study a language, when i don't even really know my plans for the future, where Muhamad finds english lessons for free in order to get a job that will pay his daily bills. ( i understand that this might be a harsh generalization of the situation, but I'm almost certain that it isn't that far from the truth for some).
And then i got to thinking again. Yesterday morning we had an american come speak to us on his experience in studying Arabic. he could speak well, having studied for quite a while, but by no means would i say he was at the level of many of the people (foreigners studying arabic) i met from Syria. He told us that in order for us to really excel in our study of the language, we have to know why we're studying it. ugh. I've pondered that question for so long, and still can't come up with a straight answer, but perhaps my point is this: maybe i can't come up with an answer for that because i don't have to yet. Muhammad studies English now because he must. Why do i study Arabic: because it's a beautiful language, because it's a challenge (and i have an ego problem), because i hate the idea of ever trying to understand someone without speaking to them in their native tongue (whether it be Arabic or Engrabic...), because i think it's sad that the number of americans i've heard speak the language with the grace that a native speaker does still fits easily on the fingers of one hand. But what does this all mean? i guess I'm just trying to point out that fact that regardless of how many privileged americans have the chance through SIT and many other abroad programs in the Middle East to travel here and learn this language, that doesn't translate into the same number of privileged americans who study it with the same rigor and will eventually speak it with the ease that Yasmine spoke English with me (and that eventually Muhammad must reach).

I sat patiently last night trying to recall what little English grammar i studied in school in order to explain why i say "i have worn" instead of "i have wearing" when talking about the rings on my fingers that i've worn since 8th grade (note that Muhammad said that these were the very first things he noticed about me when he picked me up... i wear rings on both of my ring fingers... enough to confuse any man looking for a wife). I wish i had paid more attention during those few grammar lessons we had. looks like both he and i have a lot to learn together.